Four Simple Ways To Keep Your Teen From Starving!

This is a sponsored post on behalf of Nature Valley and Walmart. Thank you for inspiring me to share my four simple ways to keep your teen from starving! As always, all opinions are 100% mine.

Feeding a family on a budget is an art form.At times, I feel like a juggler in the circus! If you have teens in your house, this task becomes more tricky. I do not know about your teenager, but mine can eat me out of house and home. Alas, I have a few tips to avoid this issue!

How To Fuel Your Teen On A Budget

Buy In Bulk: On foods the kids eat a lot of, I buy in bulk. This includes peanut butter, nuts, bread and cereal.

Offer Fruits and Vegetables: My kids could eat fruit all day long. They also love to eat carrot and celery sticks with peanut butter. I always keep a bowl of apples, oranges and bananas to snack on through the day. I pre cut my celery and carrots and put them in Ziplock snack bags in the crisper. Doing this makes it more convenient for them as they would never cut their own veggies!

Cook In Bulk: When I cook, I always plan for 2-3 meals. I will brown ground turkey and beef and freeze it for spaghetti, chili, soup, lasagna, tacos and casseroles. I prep and cook my veggies as well. This way, I can just grab a few Ziplock bags from the freezer and dinner is ready in 30 minutes or less. This is a more affordable option than eating out. It tastes better and is a healthier option too!

Make Snacks Filling: When feeding teens, you want to keep their bodies fueled. This means buying foods that contain ingredients like nuts and seeds. They are packed with protein, which keeps your teen from getting hungry between meals. One of our favorite snacks that satisfy my teens hunger are the Nature Valley XL Bars from Walmart.

My kids are snackers. They get it honest! My husband and I both love to snack. The key to find simple ways to keep your teen from starving is what you feed them. Duh, right?! What I mean is choosing foods that will fuel their growing bodies and satisfy their hunger at the same time. The trick here is finding a snack that meets those requirements AND tastes great.

That is why I buy the Nature Valley XL Bars from Walmart. Not only are they 50% bigger than regular Nature Valley Bars, they are twice as filling! Or at least I think so! Trust me, they are perfect for your hungry teenager. Heck! Who am I kidding?! They are great for mom or dad too!

I was so excited to find the Nature Valley XL Bars at my local Walmart. They are right next to the regular Nature Valley bars. They come in five flavors:

These Nature Valley XL bars are perfect for on the go snacking or as an after school snack. Caitlin wants one in her lunch every day! I love to have one on the way home from the gym.

If you are looking for simple ways to keep your teen from starving, these Nature Valley XL bars are the way to go. They are also just right for adults too! My husband drives a tire delivery truck all day. He can get very hungry from delivering all those tires. If I pack him a Nature Valley XL bar in his backpack, he said he won’t be hungry until he gets home for dinner. See?! Perfect for the whole family! Be sure to stay connected with Nature Valley and follow them on Facebook and Twitter!

What ways to keep your teen from starving do you suggest? Which of the Nature Valley XL bars would your teen (or you!) want to try?

Comments

It doesn’t stop with the teen years. As my girls graduated high school and went on to college, I still had to make sure I was well stocked with healthy snacks. Since I because involved in animal rescue, and at times have received a phone call where I had to leave immediately (even though I hadn’t eaten lunch yet), I also needed healthy, quick snacks for me to be able to grab. I’ve been doing the same as you with my cooking – especially when buying in bulk can really help save money. The main grocery store I shop at often has 3# or 5# packs of ground beef for a lower price than the individual 1# packs, so rather than split them down uncooked, I may do that with one or two pounds (I need uncooked meat for things like meatloaf), I’ll brown and drain several pounds and then split them into individual portions – enough for what I use in a recipe. I just wish I had a larger freezer, but my kitchen is rather small for a house the size of ours, and the place for the refrigerator leaves me with very few options – all much smaller than I’d really like.

Great tips for having snacks available. I’m going to cut up some veggies and have more fruit available for my family. And I really want to hit Walmart and try those XL bars. Snacks with nuts and fruit are good at keeping us feeling full and prevent me hitting the cookies and chips.

The kids love to eat fruit and veggies. I like the idea of putting them in Ziploc bags. We also buy in bulk and freeze meat we haven’t used. I’m a huge Nature Valley fan. I’d wanna try the Nature Valley XL Sweet & Salty Chocolate Nut & Seed Chewy Granola Bars first because of the chocolate.

Oh my gosh you totally crack me up with this title. I had my sons friend over the other day and I am pretty sure that this boy has hollow legs LOL. I will definitely have to check into these granola bars.

I’m in the process of putting together a food box for when we send our daughter off to college in 2 weeks. I am definitely including these Nature Valley XL bars in her box. Hopefully it will help curb her late night cravings and keep her from gorging on unhealthy convenience store and fast food options.

i agree with the preprep to avoid overspending on fast food, when kids are hungry they seem to be on their last waiting for the meal to finish. the fruits are a must as well, i make smoothies for them to mix it up a little, I love the nature valley bars mor than my kids though!

I saw the title of this post and knew I HAD to read it! My kids middle name is hungry! Bottomless pits. I have not seen the XL bars in my Walmart yet but I am looking for them. I do encourage fresh fruits and vegetables as well as protein. At least I’m on the right track!

I just love that headline! Oh so true. It’s like they never get full lol Even the older ones after their teen years. All the kids love the Nature Valley bars, though I haven’t seen any of these particular kinds.

I love a good nature valley bar to keep me going, especially back in grad school. But I’ve never seen their XL bars. This seems like a great way to get protein and also cut some cost as well. NEed to grab a box of these asap.

My husband is a late night snacker and he always enjoys a Nature Valley bar. He says it is easier to just grab a bar than to make himself a sandwich. This is why we always have Nature Valley bars in stock at home.

I have four kids and buying in bulk definitely helps! It makes life easier and it usually means that it’s offered at a lower price. I think these are great tips! It’s important that we make sure they’re nourished while without having to break the bank.

We enjoy Nature Valley bars but haven’t tried these yet! I honestly get how much teenagers can eat…I am jugging the same “problem” at my house…getting enough food each week without spending so much! I find that meal planning really helps me to save!